Committee backs appointment of ex-hedge fund employee to BoE

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LONDON (Reuters) - A parliament committee said on Thursday that it backed the appointment of Gertjan Vlieghe to the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, but that the BoE should have advised him to sell a stake in his previous employer.

Vlieghe, who had worked as an economist at the hedge fund Brevan Howard, disposed of his stake after it became public knowledge following his appointment by finance minister George Osborne, which was partly vetted by the BoE.

“The Bank would have done better to advise Dr Vlieghe to sell his stake in Brevan Howard ... (as) the holding created an impression, whether mistaken or not, of a conflict of interest,” Treasury Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie said.

The Treasury Committee does not have the power to block appointments to the BoE, but its criticism can be politically embarrassing.